Monday, December 21, 2015

His stroke was exactly on line at impact, the putter shaft was straight up
and down, and he struck the ball exactly at the bottom of the arc of his
stroke. His goal was for a vertical shaft angle and 3.5 degrees of loft at
impact. He was robotic in his ability to do that and his stroke was remarkably
similar to the one produced by the Iron Archie Robot.

On a daily basis I hear about how the "right" way to strike a putt
is to hit the ball with little, none or negative loft at impact, with the
putter on the upswing, past the apex of the path. There was a time when many TV
instructors were suggesting Tiger hit up on the ball in excess of 4 degrees.
Part of these recommendations were based on the fact that he had gone from 3.5
degrees loft on his old putter to less than 2 with his Nike Method.

Another reason for the change is the commonly held thought that hitting up
on the ball when you putt, gives you "top spin" which means a better
roll, so you will make more putts, and then you will win the lottery….. and all
the other promises marketers make to sell putters. Hitting up is a very
difficult way to putt and the following is why I believe that to be true.

The following is a PuttLab report of Iron Archie displaying a perfect,
mechanically generated arc. While it isn't an exact duplicate of Tiger's
stroke, it is very close and will help show the issues of trying to hit up on a
putt. It especially shows the issues of trying to hit up on a putt while using
conventional training aids.

The diagram shows the side view of the robots arc. The black dots stacked
over each other are the ball position. The single black square to the left
would be the ball position required to hit up on the ball 4 degrees! The bottom
picture shows the measurements of shaft lean and rise angle at impact. So
impact in this example was at the bottom of the arc and shaft position is
vertical, just as Tiger was looking for in 2006.

This picture shows the players view of the path that corresponds with the
picture above. This is the classic arc many try to achieve and the most common
path shape based on our Puttlab data compiled over the past 7 years. The black
spot on the left notes the impact point required to achieve a 4 degree rise
angle. So hitting up requires a dramatic mechanical change and the idea of a
zero path from this setup is not possible unless you have a big spine
tilt to the right. So if you ever hear a suggestion of level shoulders in
combination with an ascending blow to the ball, all the while with a parallel
path to the target, you can dismiss that right away.

Note the direction of the path at the impact point 4 degrees up. One
characteristic of the robot is that the putter always swings square to the
path. Square to the path at 4 degrees up is almost 4 degrees left and 4 degrees closed! So in order for the putter
face to be square to the target line at impact you must either hold the
putter open to the path the same amount it is moving left (what most players
do) or adjust the path direction so path matches target line at impact. In
Tiger’s case when he switched from Cameron to Nike his natural stroke was to
release the putter, with the face closed to the path on the follow through. So
with this stroke he is really fighting the pull. It is my opinion that an
attempt to block the pull was the beginning of his yippy putting stroke!
If you watch on television you see an undercut or block release of the putter
with many players. This manipulated move is extremely timing dependent and in
the opposite direction of the movement of the stroke.

So based trying to swing the putter online at impact or at least
close, here is the adjustment to the path required to strike the ball
as the putter swings 4 degrees up. You have to tilt the arc to suit impact. In
Iron Archie’s case it would require the robot to be positioned 4 degrees right
of the target line.

I know some players with paths of this pattern who are great putters. But
they have used it forever and they understand the issues and requirements. For
those of you trying to swing the putter "online and onplane" I hope
this helps explain some of the difficulties you might encounter as you try to
follow all the instruction your read.

Friday, September 18, 2015

When I started with PuttLab, the most common stroke pattern we saw was a small to moderate arc tilted left. Visually, to many tour players this looks like straight back and straight through. Although it is really straight back and straight to impact, and then the putter swings inside to follow the plane or the arc defined by the plane.

The common release was the hold or not to let the toe catch the heel of the putter through impact. Because they couldn't measure the exact position of the face relative to the path, what they called square was really a little open to the path. It was hard to explain to them, as feel is real to the tour player and many didn't like the idea or thought of a cut stroke. Even though it is not really a cut stroke because of the elliptical nature of the path. The visual appearance of an arc happens when the putter is no where near the proximity of the golf ball. So if you judge path by the follow through you think 1 or 2 degrees is huge. Look at this diagram. While the face is square to the target line it is open to the path of the putter at impact (blue circle). But try telling that to a successful tour player.
For me the proof came when we started to look at a number of putters built by one famous builder. Many of the grips coming out of his studio were placed so if the flat spot was on top, the face was slightly open 1 or 2 degrees. So if you can picture the putter coming off the bottom of your arc and starting to swing left as it comes into the ball you can picture how an open setting of the grip would help hold the face square to the target. If the putter is moving 2 degrees left of the target at impact, then the putter face should be 2 degrees open to the path to be square to the target. Picture the grip of the putter parallel to the red line. If it was installed "open" the face would be in this position.

When I started to point this out in my travels, there was a bit of a commotion. Not from the players, they were aware and liked the idea of making a left miss more difficult. The commotion came from the perfectionist instructors and players who thought the perfect stroke would make you better.

My recommendation for right now is to develop a complete understanding of your stroke without the pressure of results. Use your outline and try to get a picture of your stroke and release pattern. You will find when the new putter comes there will be some adjustment, that is why I would rather you set results aside and just judge the movement. Think, "What pattern of putting stroke is best suited to my new putter?" The new putter will help you take care of the rest.

About Me

Bruce Rearick, is the owner of Burnt Edges Consulting, offering a better understanding of the science and art of putting. He is considered an industry expert in putter design, fitting and the relationship of those parameters to the putting stroke. His clients include putter manufacturers as well as instructors, and players.

Find out more about Bruce's services at bruce@burntedgesconsulting .com